Roads vacuuming plan fails to take off in Delhi

Months after Delhi Government's ambitious plan to have the national capital's roads vacuum cleaned, it has failed to take off yet.

PWD officials say felt the outcome of vacuum cleaning was not as expected because of poor maintenance. (The Indian Express)

Months after Delhi Government’s ambitious plan to have the national capital’s roads vacuum cleaned, it has failed to take off yet. In April, mechanical sweepers were out on the roads at night. But almost six months later machines have been returned and vacuum cleaning is on hold. The city government is finalising a tender for a new machine.

The scheme which was announced last December was important for Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s plan to improve the air quality of the city. According to officials in PWD, the first tender failed to get any bids.

In the first tender, firms that would provide with exhaustive maintenance of the roads were looked at, which include repair, horticulture, and vacuum cleaning, which failed to get any bid., as there are no companies with these three services, which might be available in due course, said PWD secretary Ashwani Kumar was quoted as saying by ‘The Indian Express’.
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PWD officials also felt the outcome of vacuum cleaning was not as expected because of poor maintenance and the design of roads.

An official told the paper that machines can work when the surface is even and does not have any potholes. Machines procured by the government were not effective because of the road conditions, he added. PWD officials further said cleaning roads was not their responsibility, but since the government had decided to fight air pollution, they wanted to be part of it.